things you like about your least favorite sonic games

[Wraith]

This soundtrack is sublime. It is borderline untouchable despite how limited the soundfont seems to be. It's gotten to the point where these are some of the first tracks I think of when I think of Sonic, despite the fact that this game has nothing to do with him and carries nothing that was great about the original games aside from the artstyle. 

I also like the amount of playable characters and their nuances. I always felt like Classic Sonic could stand to stretch itself just a bit more in this department and this cursed artifact does that, for better or worse. I keep hoping that a character with Vector's ability will just pop up in a new 2D game even if it isn't the master vocalist himself. 

[Kuzu]

Sonic Forces has pretty amazing presentation all things considered; they really did go all in with the War aesthetic and all. And the Soundtrack is varied, but still pretty lively. Really makes me disappointed the game ended up the way it did because it had so much potential to be more. 

[iambitter21]

sonic 1 has pretty nice physics, sonic has a nice acceleration, his jump arc is perfect and his overall controls are crisp in every way. I love the music and overall presentation. the music is pretty atmospheric and fitting and I love the surreal backgrounds, I like the rolling hills, I like the jagged mountains, the details of the buildings and factories. it had a lot going for It, and that just boost the respect I already had. but you already know how I feel about the game as a whole, don't you?

[JosepHenry]

Sonic Forces a very fun customization system, i just love dressing up characters and I really hope it comes back.

[Diogenes]

Speaking of Chaotix, I liked the idea of its special stages, even if the execution is lacking. Taking the autorun tube style of special stage and opening it up, twisting the level into new shapes, and working in some basic platforming.

Most of the vehicles in ShtH were pretty useless, but the hover-disk and the jump mech stood out as having at least some use, letting you do some things that Shadow couldn't normally instead of just being slow, clumsy armor. And I kind of liked the sort of "scavenging" angle to it, taking out an alien and stealing its ride for yourself. It reminds me a bit of how Sonic has conveniently found snowboards and used them basically just because. And as much as Sonic games don't really need "vehicles", I think it could be worth exploring that angle as a way of making enemies more interesting. Something like, smash a turtle robot in a snow level and you'll start riding its shell like a sled, or smash a helicopter-type enemy and you'll hang from its propellers and fly for a bit. I think you'd need a gentle touch with it to not feel gimmicky, but it'd be a way to get players interacting with enemies and using them as part of the platforming in more ways than "here is a homing attack chain".

[Sonictrainer]

Despite the broken and frustrating difficulty, the Zone ideas, story, music, and monster designs were kind of cool.

In fact with some refining (being able to take another person's card at anytime is not a fun time), we could make a bigger and better Sonic Party game.

Maybe do another crossover with NiGHTS? Heck, maybe a SEGA All Stars Party game could work.

[MetalSkulkBane]

I still say that "Rise of Lyric" is the worst mainstream Sonic game. Terrible story-wise, gameplay-wise and unlike 06 didn't even tried to take risks or do something interesting.

With that said

1) Scene where Metal Sonic does "ironman landing" and then fails to open the doors is exactly the kind of small Metal scenes I enjoy.

2) Eggman characterization is actually pretty great. He's funny, but also very competent, learning from his mistakes, trying new tactics and technically winning by the end.

This moment is actually genuinely awesome

Ironically I think Shattered Crystal was better because it had "boring" gameplay, not "atrocious". And yet I can't say anything really positive about  it, plus story was beyond terrible. I guess dancing in Amy's house is fun.

Free Riders....it has good theme song and looks nice. And Johnny's review made me laugh.

But games likes Shadow or 06? I have dozen things to say I like.

 

[Polkadi~☆]

Sonic Blast had some impressive graphics for an 8-bit handheld on the very edge of it's life, immitating the likes of Donkey Kong Country. And that's all the good I can say about that game.

[Blue Blood]

My most disliked Sonic games would be Lost World 3DS, Sonic 4 and Forces (in no particular order). Thinking of things that I genuinely like about these games is pretty hard to do, but I'll give it a go...

Sonic 4: Lost Labyrinth isn't a train wreck like the rest of the game. Whilst the layouts of all of the acts still include far too many HA chaind, boosters and springs, they all play slower than the rest of levels in all of S4 and the gimmicks are kinda nice; balancing on giant rolling boulders for example was a feature planned for S1 and it makes so much sense for a Sonic gimmick. And the torches? One egregious puzzle aside, that was legitimately fun because it didn't take away from Sonic's movements and gave you just a little something to think about without over staying its welcome. Aesthetically it's also the only stage in E1 that arguably looks like an homage to a Mega Drive stage instead of being a straight up clone. I would love to see this level realised in 3D. Ruins stages are always my favourite aesthetically; Lost Labyrinth doesn't disappoint with its golden architecture, green glowing lights and colosseum-esque structures in the far background. Is Lost Labyrinth good? Not particularly, but it's the best by S4 standards. I like a lot of what it does.

That's about it though for for things I like about S4, and it's super specific. I wish I could talk about more general things, like "the music is art style is nice" or "the bosses are well designed", but S4 is so devoid of noteworthy content. You have to get into the real nitty gritty if you want to find something to like.

Lost World 3DS: This game is the hottest of turds. I cannot stand it at all. I genuinely don't think that there's anything I like about it. The first couple of acts aren't bad, I remember that. But anything else I'm not sure of. Lemme go replay some of the game later and I'll try to look for positives.

Forces: I like the concept of Mystic Jungle. A forest filled with ancient ruins that have been turned into the typical Sonic casino level sounds like so much fun on paper. The aesthetic and gameplay execution of all the levels therein is rubbish, but at least there's a decent idea there.

Again, like with S4 I'm struggling to pick out broad aspects of the game that I like. The war angle is overdone and constructivism motif only extends to the menu. But then you've got characters flip-flopping between poorly acted melodrama and jokes about butt-kickkng. There's no consistency. It's overcooked and half baked all at once.

I guess the Modern Sonic music for most levels also has a certain level of effectiveness at promoting a sense of dire straights and urgency. Whilst I don't love the synths, they actually work fairly well a lot of the time. Network Terminal outside is a legitimately good piece.

6 hours ago, JosepHenry said:

Sonic Forces a very fun customization system, i just love dressing up characters and I really hope it comes back.

This is something that I can't agree with. Like sure, I dislike character creators in games generally and especially don't want to see such a thing make a return in a Sonic game, but that's not going to be my point here. If a game has a custom character, fine whatever. Let's talk about the merits of such a feature. Forces only lets you choose from a few different head shapes and a limited preset of eyes. Further customisation is limited to dressing your character in messy accessories that invariably result in a clusterfuck that clashes with every other character you see. You can't even choose the colours of the gaudy accessories, with each item instead coming in three presets that must be unlocked individually. It's a game of dress-up instead of character design. The avatars in Forces just don't look good and stifle the potential for creativity.

[Tracker_TD]

Sonic Heroes is probably the peak of 3D Sonic visuals; the environments speak for themselves, but take away the overdone gloss, and even the characters models are basically a solid translation of Uekawa's artwork. It's a visual style I would love them to go back to, just in a game that doesn't cause me physical pain.

I also appreciate Heroes' story; it's not as overboard as I think SA2's went at times, and I appreciate it for that. Brings back a fan-favourite villain, does something with him beyond another Eggman bossfight (though I'm not a fan of Neo Metal Sonic's design), adds in an extra wrinkle with the Shadow subplot, and it just kinda works, y'know? 

[caitash]

Sonic Forces: The music is pretty good. I have ‘Light of Hope’ on my top tier music playlist as it’s such a lovely song that the game itself has no right to deserve. Also the lighting in the game itself was nice.

Rise of Lyric: ...I guess I could see what they were trying to go for with the whole concept and story and I appreciate them trying, even if it did not pull it off at all. Also it was really good to play as other characters again.

[batson]

For me this would be Sonic R, and Sonic and the Black Knight.

Well they both have some good music, which is of course often the case for even the worst Sonic games. Black Knight also have a rather nice story.

[BadBehavior]

Colours and Lost World both have decent soundtracks. Even if Lost World's doesn't make a good first impression thanks to Wonder World and Windy Hill Act 1 that only reinforce the "it's just a Mario game" label. And unlike Forces, there's plenty of instrument and melody variety. All of Modern Sonic's mono-synth tracks just kind of blend together after a while.

[Indigo Rush]

I had to think about this one for a bit. I didn't want to just default to "music and graphics" for any Sonic game I didn't have fun playing, and as I tried looking at gameplay mechanics in games that I didn't like, a lot of them were simply done better in games that I did. I wanted to find a likable mechanic or concept in a Sonic game that hasn't been attempted before or since... and I settled on Shadow the Hedgehog.

The two concepts that I appreciated in this game are branching level paths and checkpoints you can warp to within a level. The mission structure in Shadow is not really my favorite, but the idea that your actions or end destination can affect the next level you travel to is a concept that I would love to see in a more traditional Sonic game. Similar to that, warping across checkpoints is designed in mind with the mission structure (so you aren't stuck being unable to complete any mission) but the idea of being able to backtrack in a larger level is something I'd also want to try out in a new game. 

[blueblur98]

shadow the hedgehog has an alright soundtrack

[JezMM]

In terms of platforming games, my least favourites (according to my personal ranking at least) would be Knuckles' Chaotix, the Game Gear Tails' games, Sonic Blast, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric and Sonic Runners.  I don't necessarily think all of these games are bad, but I have no desire to return to any of them or didn't enjoy them enough to finish in the first place.

Naturally "the music" is a cop-out answer so I won't dwell on it, but it does apply to Chaotix, a few tracks of Boom and VERY MUCH the soundtrack of Runners.

So in terms of other stuff:

For Knuckles' Chaotix, the idea of the stages taking place at different times of day is pretty appealing, especially since it's dynamic and won't be the same on every playthrough depending on what order you play the stages in.  I love that Unleashed and Generations did this with certain acts/missions but I would love to see it applied as a dynamic thing that can be on any stage rather than preset ones.  I also in theory like the idea of playing stages in a random order but I don't think Chaotix did it well.  It means there's very little chance of fighting a boss for the first half of the game, and the entire game has to be more or less the same average difficulty all the way through - I never really played it that far though, maybe they balance this out by having all the Act 1's be easy, working up to all the Act 5's behind hard.  Anyway, I like it in concept if they could still get a balanced difficulty curve somehow and bosses aren't all fought towards the end of the game.

For Sonic Runners, the idea of a procedurally generated stage is cool enough for a mobile game or for a bonus unlockable mode in a main series game. The reason this one didn't stick with me is because I don't like the inevitable fact that endless runners always end in a loss.  It's for this reason that despite the depressing downgrade in fanservice, visuals and soundtrack, I had more fun with, and actually finished, Sonic Runners Adventure.  But yeah, I do like the idea of simpler, generated stages for a spin-off game or for a bonus mode, as long as there is a way to enjoy it where there is an end to the stage or a win condition that ends the gameplay.  Perhaps a true endless mode that only ends in failure and is just there for the player to try and beat their high score could be included too but it should be totally optional.  Maybe an achievement or unlockable for playing it once and reaching a certain high score but that's it.

[Scritch the Cat]

I’m going savage and saying that not only is Sonic 2 on Game Gear my least favorite Sonic game I have ever played, if not for that Tee Lopes remix of its music I probably couldn’t say a single positive thing about it.  Yes; it earns this dubious honor mostly because the screen resolution makes the first boss nearly impossible without luck, but nothing up to that point is outright good, either, and because the boss is such a roadblock, it confines you to what is also likely the worst first level in any Sonic game.  Underground Zone has monotonous colors, a lame name, and Sonic riding a mine cart rather than running much of the time.  

For as many more game-breaking glitches as Sonic 06 had, within its quagmire of a first impression it at least gave us a gorgeous intro cutscene, a tropical island as a first level, and PLAYABLE Tails; something I still resent Sonic 2 GG for lacking even as it featured him in its art.
 

So 06 is probably my second least favorite, and I can actually say a lot more positive about it, but later.

[Muscles Maximum]

Sonic Forces - There's very little I can say about this game that gave me any sense of enjoyment but that said I really really appreciate the fact they made Shadow playable again. Since Unleashed I've wondered why they never released DLC skins of some characters. It'd be the easiest thing they could ever do and I know a lot of people would eat it up. I know I'd be very happy to run through stages as Espio, Blaze, Metal Sonic, Shadow, etc. So the fact they did it not only for free, but also even had a little mini campaign for him made me happy. So I really hope this is something they continue to do.

Sonic and the Black Knight - I want so badly to love this game but I just cannot. I think it's incredible they brought in Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze as playable characters for some stages. It's really cool to see others like Jet, Silver, Tails and Amy playable in the 2P vs mode as well. I also think the presentation in this game is phenomenal, and I honestly think visually speaking this game looks nicer than Colors does. The tone of the story is A++ and is ideal for what I believe the series should be. I just unfortunately don't think this game's any fun to play and that comes above all else, so yeah. Otherwise I think this game has a ton of great things going for it.

Sonic Lost World - I like the bright colors and that they brought the spindash and bounce attack back. These should be Sonic move staples in my view no questions asked. The super peel out is great to see too even though it's useless in this dumb game. I also really like the idea of Sonic having a kick attack as an alternate means of dispatching certain enemies, I just think it was horribly executed.

[batson]

13 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

I’m going savage and saying that not only is Sonic 2 on Game Gear my least favorite Sonic game I have ever played, if not for that Tee Lopes remix of its music I probably couldn’t say a single positive thing about it.  Yes; it earns this dubious honor mostly because the screen resolution makes the first boss nearly impossible without luck, but nothing up to that point is outright good, either, and because the boss is such a roadblock, it confines you to what is also likely the worst first level in any Sonic game.  Underground Zone has monotonous colors, a lame name, and Sonic riding a mine cart rather than running much of the time. 

 

Yeah, Sonic 2 on the Game Gear is pretty much the worst that the franchise has to offer in terms of 2D gameplay. Which is weird because the other Game Gear platform games are perfectly decent. They just somehow dropped the ball on that one game.

[DaMan]

My least favorite Sonic game is Sonic .Jam and um... I think a very very very VERY young kid could enjoy it I guess ?

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

1 hour ago, DaMan said:

My least favorite Sonic game is Sonic .Jam and um... I think a very very very VERY young kid could enjoy it I guess ?

Do you mean the Game.com version?

[Iko]

My least favorite Sonic game is Sonic Blast, but I admit that the music in Green Hill Zone is nice. I can't remember of anything else that I like of that game sadly... maybe the ambitions.

 

[RadicalLaRuby]

These are from some of the titles I like the least.

 

Sonic Unleashed has incredible environments up to this day.

Sonic Generations contains the best boost gameplay.

Secret Rings has an amazing soundtrack.

Black Knight has a vast improvements in Jason Griffith's performance.

Sonic Lost World remembered small animals.